Flautas Cooking Demonstration Closes Out Hispanic Heritage Month

A pair of hands with black nail polish holds a paper plate with orange-colored rice, two flautas topped with flakes of cheese and lettuce.
Cloud Rimer, a junior from Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, holds a plate of food including orange rice and flautas topped with cheese and lettuce. “I thought it was great,” said Rimer. “She’s a great story teller, and a really cool lady.” (Photo illustration by Lizzy Kelley).

To conclude Albion College’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Jennie “Mama” Ramos hosted a cooking demonstration on Thursday, where she made chicken-filled flautas. During the demonstration, Ramos prepared the flautas and rice while the audience asked questions about her life and cooking experience. 

“I have been doing these demonstrations for a little over 20 years,” said Ramos. “I specialize in making more of the Hispanic side of foods, but I can basically do any kind of food.”

At the conclusion of the demonstration, Ramos served the food she made to the audience. When serving the food, she placed each item in the order of how she wanted the audience to plate it: Flautas, lettuce, Cotija cheese, hot sauce and rice which she personally plated for each attendee.

Associate Director of the Office of Belonging Rivkah Gamble said via email the month’s festivities included a Flag Presentation & Event Announcement, Latin Dance Lessons & Live Music and Dancing in the KC, the first annual Spanish Mass Field Trip, a screening of the film “The Long Game” and finally the second annual cooking demonstration by Ramos.

“If it was up to me, she’d do it again next year,” Gamble said at the event.

According to Gamble’s email, this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month theme was “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together,” meant to celebrate both the traditions and future of Hispanic/Latine communities.

Next year, Gamble said in the same email that the Hispanic Heritage Committee is “excited to incorporate more opportunities to spotlight local Hispanic/Latine artists and community members” throughout the academic year.

Gamble added at the event that this is not quite the last event of series, there will be another event celebrating Hispanic heritage on Oct. 31, including a campus ofrenda.

A woman stands behind a table covered in food and cooking supplies as she uses her right hand to stir orange-colored rice.
Ramos stands mixing the rice she has in her cooker. “The rice itself, because it’s shore grain, you don’t need as much water,” said Ramos (Photo by Lizzy Kelley).
An older woman wearing glasses and a purple dress places rice onto a tall man's plate. The two are separated by a table littered with ingredients and cooking materials.
Jennie Ramos, also known as Mama Ramos, serves rice from her cooking demonstration to an audience member. Students and staff lined up to try the food they watched her prepare during the demonstration (Photo by Lizzy Kelley).
Three students sit at a round, red table with plates of food in front of them. Some students are eating well, another texts on their phone.
Three students sit around a table as they eat the food made during the demonstration by Ramos. All of them tried each type of food made during said demonstration (Photo by Lizzy Kelley).

Bonnie Lord also contributed reporting to this story.

About Lizzy Kelley 19 Articles
Lizzy Kelley is a sophomore from Brighton, Michigan. Lizzy is a psychology major, and is typically found working on her stuff in the Dow. Contact Lizzy via email at EMK16@albion.edu

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